Reel McCoy Film Society presents film screenings of classic cinema.

26 APRIL, 12.30 PM
HARAKIRI (1962)
133 MIN, JAPAN
DIR: MASAKI KOBAYASHI
CAST: TATSUYA NAKADAI, AKIRA ISHIHAMA, SHIMA IWASHITA, TETSURO TANBA

In 17th-century Japan, a destitute samurai arrives at the estate of a powerful clan requesting permission to commit ritual suicide. Expecting a bluff, the clan elders recount a recent case intended as a warning. As the man calmly insists on proceeding, his story unfolds, revealing a far more disturbing truth. Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri is a devastating critique of the samurai code and the cruelty hidden beneath rigid ideas of honour and obedience. Told through controlled performances, stark black-and-white cinematography, and an exacting narrative structure, the film strips away romantic myths to deliver one of the most powerful moral statements in Japanese cinema.

 31 MAY, 12.30 PM
MON ONCLE (1958)
116 MIN, FRANCE
DIR: JACQUES TATI
CAST: JACQUES TATI, ALAIN BÉCOURT, JEAN-PIERRE ZOLA, ADRIENNE SERVANTIE

Jacques Tati was born a little too late for the era of silent films, but he reinvented a version of them when he created the iconic character of Monsieur Hulot in the mid-1950s. There is room for debate as to which of the four Hulot films is the best; but this, the second, best defines the character: fully at home at his own world, hopelessly out of place in the chic, automated modern world which his relatives have taken to. But with misplaced confidence, they believe they can convert him to their way of life.

28 JUNE, 12.30 PM
THE BANK (2001)
106 MIN, AUSTRALIA
DIR:  ROBERT CONNOLLY
CAST:  David Wenham, Anthony LaPaglia, Sibylla Budd, Steve Rodgers, Mandy McElhinney

This is an Australian thriller/drama film; the story starts in the 1970s and moves to the late 90s and early 2000s.  This is the director Robert Connolly’s first film.  Set in Victoria, some scenes are filmed in the headquarters of a major bank in Melbourne. Jim Doyle (David Wenham) is a brilliant mathematician who has designed a computer program to predict stock market direction.  He is hired by Simon O’Reilly (Anthony LaPaglia), CEO of a large bank. The themes include: the loss of compassion in banking, genius, greed, corruption, intrigue, imagination, bankruptcy, suicide, court cases and revenge.

26 JULY, 12.30 PM
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951)
115 MIN, USA
DIR: VINCENTE MINNELLI   
CAST: GENE KELLY, LESLIE CARON, OSCAR LEVANT, GEORGES GUETARY, NINA FOCH

The story goes that ace MGM producer Alan Freed approached Ira Gershwin seeking permission to use his late brother’s concert piece An American in Paris in a movie. When he came away, he had permission to make a whole movie full of George’s songs. The result was six Oscars: best picture, screenplay, music, art direction, costume design, and a special citation for Gene Kelly. A demobbed WW2 American soldier returns to Paris to make his way as a painter. Of course, he spends more time dancing, singing and romancing Leslie Caron and Nina Foch. A gloriously filmed, joyous musical.  

30 AUGUST, 12.30 PM
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955)
92 MIN, USA
DIR: CHARLES LAUGHTON
CAST: ROBERT MITCHUM, SHELLEY WINTERS, LILLIAN GISH

The film of Davis Grubb's novel The Night of the Hunter received scathing critical responses upon its first release. The film has however grown in stature since then and is now considered a classic with its expressionistic, dark, fairy tale evocation of the struggle of good against evil. The film's star, Robert Mitchum, released from a jail sentence for drug possession, was blacklisted by the studios till Charles Laughton brilliantly cast him as the murderous preacher. This film, Laughton's only directorial production, is considered one of the archetypes of the Southern Gothic genre and its haunting dreamlike imagery is unequalled.

27 SEPTEMBER, 12.30 PM
NINE QUEENS (2000)
114 MIN, ARGENTINA
DIR: FABIAN BIELINSKI
CAST: RICARDO DARIN, GASTON PAULS, LETICIA BREDICE, TOMAS FONZI

Two con artists, one smoothly experienced, the other incompetent, join forces and become involved in a complex scam involving forged copies of rare stamps. Set over the course of a single day in Buenos Aires, the film trusts its audience and rewards attentiveness. Nine Queens shows how a modestly budgeted film can create suspense through an intelligent script and terrific performances. The film is often cited as one of the defining films of modern Argentinian cinema and it also revived the con film for a modern audience. It was remade in the U.S.A. as Criminal (2004).

25 OCTOBER, 12.30 PM
THE DEVILS (1971)
101 MIN, UNITED KINGDOM
DIR: KEN RUSSELL
CAST: OLIVER REED, VANESSA REDGRAVE, DUDLEY SUTTON

Father Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) champions the rights of the people of Loudun against Cardinal Richelieu who wants to tear down the town’s defences. Local nuns, led by Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave) accuse him of witchcraft. The trial and the exorcisms of the nuns involved were sensational. Based on a true story written up as a novel by Aldous Huxley. Sets by Derek Jarman. The Devils was banned in several countries, but it remains a visually striking, distinctive, milestone of British historical drama, with traces of black humour.  Not as shocking today as it was on release, it remains unforgettable. 

29 NOVEMBER, 12.30 PM
1945 (2017)
91 MIN, HUNGARY
DIR: FERENC TÖRÖK
CAST: PÉTER RUDOLF, TAMÁS SZABÓ KIMMEL, DÓRA SZTARENKI

Two Orthodox Jews arrive in a small remote rural Hungarian village which is getting ready for the wedding of the magistrate's son. They're accompanied by two coffin-like wooden crates supposedly filled with perfumes and soaps. Is this the start of a Jewish influx, reclaiming properties? Histories resurface, rumours spread wildly, paranoia reigns and the villagers behave accordingly. This subtle and nuanced film is atmospherically shot in black and white with the mood of the film ably enhanced by Tibor Szemzö's soundtrack. The filmmaker has sensitively examined the European war's postscript, a period of history that everyone quickly wanted to forget.

13 DECEMBER, 12.30 PM
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
105 MIN, USA
DIR: FRANK CAPRA
CAST: CLAUDETTE COLBERT, CLARK GABLE, WALTER CONNELLY

An heiress is trying to run away and elope, and a newspaper reporter offers to help her in exchange for a story; what follows may be the single most influential film of the 1930s—after, perhaps, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Both films defined a genre: in one case, animated features; in the other, romantic comedies, as we know them today. It scarcely matters that neither was technically the first. Made in a Poverty Row studio which had low expectations for it, the film swept the Oscars: Best Picture, Director, Actress, Actor and Screenplay; a feat equalled only twice since.